7. An Unremarkable Afternoon In The Warm Wheelwright Shop
Le Grand Meaulnes — Résumé 🇺🇸 English
The relentless rain finally ceased by evening after a long and dreary school day spent indoors. During the final moments of class, Monsieur Seurel struck his ruler against the table to quiet the murmuring students and asked who would volunteer to drive to the station the following day to collect Monsieur and Madame Charpentier. These beloved grandparents traditionally arrived before Christmas carrying bundles of chestnuts and provisions wrapped in towels, initiating a week of great pleasure for the household. Selecting a driver required someone responsible yet indulgent enough to manage grandfather Charpentier's swearing and grandmother Charpentier's talkativeness.
When the question was posed, the classroom erupted with eager voices shouting for grand Meaulnes, Fromentin, and Jasmin Delouche, while younger children and older pupils made chaotic bids to be chosen. Monsieur Seurel pretended not to hear the clamor and ultimately appointed Mouchebœuf, prompting the disappointed students to return to their places in silence. Left alone in the freezing, rain-washed courtyard, François and Meaulnes soon joined little Coffin inside the warm, red-lit workshop of the local wheelwright. The boys sat among white wood shavings near the forge while the blacksmith and his worker hammered iron, casting huge, abrupt shadows against the wall.
During a pause in the heavy work, the blacksmith asked about the expected arrival of Monsieur Charpentier. François proudly announced that he would retrieve them the next day using father Martin's vehicle, which provoked amused laughter and remarks from the men about the superior speed of Fromentin's mare. As the conversation died down and the noisy labor resumed, François noticed Meaulnes leaning against the doorway, looking deeply absorbed in thought and staring as if through a dense fog at the peaceful workers. Watching his companion lost in reflection, François was suddenly struck by the resemblance to an illustration of Robinson Crusoe frequenting a basket maker's shop before his great departure.